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Coffee County is a recipient of a $150,000 grant from the Historic Property / Land Acquisition Fund from the State of Tennessee as administered through the Tennessee Historical Commission.

The grant award will be used for restoration of the main hallway of the historic Coffee County Courthouse to the 1871 appearance. The project started and the Courthouse is closed during the renovation project. The projected time for completion of the project is May 1, 2026. While the courthouse is closed, the Coffee County Historical Society will continue activities offsite.

Anyone who wishes to contact the Historical Society can do so by email, CCHS1969@att.net or call 931-728-0145.

The construction project will remove old paneling from the walls and replace it with a historically appropriate plaster wall. The old vinyl floor will also disappear with the installation of a wood floor. The Coffee County Historical Society will replace the ceiling and lighting in the hallway with a grant awarded by the Tennessee State Museum.

The Coffee County Courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and the present courthouse building is an 1871 construction with latter additions. The courthouse burned on Dec. 3, 1870, in mysterious circumstances. An 1871 report of a county committee formed to investigate the fire concluded that “we can arrive at no definite conclusion except that it was the work of an incendiary.” Some of the records of the different offices were destroyed with most coming from Chancery Court.